Machine for knitting



May 15, 1945. H. c. GREEN v MACHINE FOR KNITTING Filed April 7,l 1943 5Sheets-Sheet l y Si L ma@ fw K F7614:- l

May 15, 1945. l. H. c. GREEN MACHINE FOR KNITTING 5 she'ets-sheet 2Filed April 7. 1943 ATT Y.

l. H. c. GREEN MACHINE FOR KNITTING Filed April '7, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet5 May-15, 1,945. l `l. H. c. GREEN MACHINE FOR KNITTING 5 sheets-sheet 4lFiled April '7, 1943 Flag.

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May l5, 1945. .1. H. c. GREEN 2,376,050 v MACHINE Fon KNITTKIKNG` nFiled April '7, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 .FIGC/Z.

Pme.; Mais, 1945 v2,376,050

UNITED ASTATES l PATENT OFFICE Isaac H. C. Green, Pawtucket, R. I.,assignor to vHemphill Company, Central Falls, R. I., a corporation ofMassachusetts Application April 7, 1943, Serial No. 482,143

Claims.

This application concerns a knitting machine of the circular,independent needle type adapted n to knit hosiery and in which'atcertain parts of a knitted stocking pile or terry loops are formed. Suchhosiery is the subject matter of Davis Patent #2,144,563 and is verypopular for athletic wear, military uses and other purposes. There is noparticular diiliculty' in incorporating the pile or terry loops duringcircular work, but in reciprocatory knitting as informing heels andtoes, considerable diiiiculty is experienced.- At that time it isnecessary to narrow and widen and that causes the pile yarn to be missedby many of the sinkers so that it does not appear in the finished fabricin each course, or in all ofthe desired stitches in a course. f

Here mechanism is disclosed which is adapted to control the feeding ofthe pile yarn in such relationship to the so-called body yarn and simu1taneously to regulate the rection of sinkers as to f ing knitted bymechanism describedin this case, f

separate the two yarns a maximum amount or extent and projectnibsoisinkers betweenthe yarns at such time and in such manner that thereshall be a pile loop at each stitch intended.

In the following description taken in reference' to the accompanyingfigures ofvdrawings; two

forms of mechanism are described by means of which the general purposesof the invention are to be carried into eiect.

In the figures of drawings:

Fig. 1 is an. elevation of; a part of a circular type hosiery machine towhich the invention has been applied.

Fig. 2 is a plan of part of a cylinder, sinker cam cap and certaincontrolling devices applied there- Fig. 3 is a detail view of sinkercams, the cap having been cut away to show these cams more clearly. y

Fig. 4 is a detail view of feeding levers and of `needles and sinkersand the yarns being drawn by them.

Fig. 8 is a plan view showing a modied form o'f the invention, certainparts being cutaway, and 65 to controlled'by those picks.

Fig. 9 is a view ,of the mechanism shown in Fig.

, 8., but as it would be seen if viewed from the inf-l side of theneedle cylinder.

Fig. 10 is a detail' view of sinker cams and special control for thosecams as it is applied by the mechanism of this modified form of theinvention.

Fig. 11 is a sectional view showing needle cams, one pick and meanscontrolled by that pick for regulating the action of the sinker cams.

Fig. 12 is a sectiontaken at the line |2|2, Fig. 10. l t

Fig. 13 is a detail of a friction ring employed in this modification. Ay

Fig. 14 is a conventional illustration of a stocksaid stocking beingviewed inside out.

Now referring to the Figs. 1-7, a needle cylinder i of usual type isrotatable in a frame which has a circular base 2 and that cylindercarries theusual latch needles 3, Fig. 7, each of. these needles thaving the usual butt. Instep needles have long butts while sole needleshave short butts. A plurality of sinkers 4, one for each needle,havespecial nibs 5 which are adapted to project between the two feedingyarns. Each of these sinkers has a butt (not shown) and is -controlledby action 'of certain cams on those butts. There are a plurality of camswhich are adapted to engage needle butts and control them, those camsincluding the usual stitch cams, center cam land raise cams all of whichare supported by a cam plate 6 and the stitch, cams of which areoperated in conjunction with a cam block l. There are also the usualnary rowing picks 8 forthe purpose ofrasing one f needle at a timeduring each stroke 0f heel and toe knitting. t

Yarns are fed by a series of yarnflevers or nfgers shownmore clearly inFigs. 4, 5 and 6. TheA lever .9 feeds a yarn is the pile yarn employedduring knitting the high splice andthe double sole. That finger iscontrolled to move to and from feeding positiononce each course.Y LeverIll-.feeds a similar pile yarn during formation of' the heel and toe. Ofcourse, there is the usual mechanism employed on this type of'machi'neto .raise and lower these yarn levers so as to introduce or withdraw ayarn at desired times. There are other levers for feeding other yarnsduring knitting diiIerent parts of the stocking. Those vare notimportant here and will not be described. The body yarn is to be fed ata point very close the center'ot the mouthpiece" and is thread-A edthrough the offset end l2 of a. special, vertical- -ly-movable, feedingfinger I3. This finger I3 rests upon the mouthpiece when in lowered oractive position and is guided during its vertical movements by theprojecting part I4 and a guide I 5. That guide I5 attaches to theside'ofprojection I6 extending from the carriery ring I1.

Normally each of the levers 9, l0, etc., swings A about pivot I8 in theusual way. However, the

feeding finger I3 is raised by a specially shaped lever I9 pivoting atI8 and having a reduced end which engages in a sort of slot adjacent thelower end of the linger itself. The lever I9 is in turn moved by asecond controllingy element and it is for that reason that finger I3moves vertically. The shape of the oilset projection I2 is l.such thatthe heel and toe pile yarn can feed over the top of that projectionwithout interference.

As shown in Figs. Zand 3, sinkers are controlled by'cams includingcenter sinker cam 22, side sinker cams 23 and 24, and movable cams 25and 2t. These cams are mounted in a sinker cam cap 21 and the sinkersthemselves are movable in a sinker head 28. Normally the cams 23 and 24control in the casting oft movement so that, when there is no pile yarnbeing knitted, the action of the machine is more or less normal. Whenpile yarn is to be knitted, sinkers are projected inwardly for an extentsumcient to move the nibs 5 beneath the topmost or pile yarn.

Cam 23 pivots at 29 while. cam 24 pivots at 30 and unless pushed in byspecial mechanism later to be described, neitherY of these cams willhave any eiect. At either side of the cam block l there is a spindle 3lat the front and 32 at the back of the machine, these spindles beingsup-1` ported in an appropriate bracket 33, Fig. 1. Each of thesespindles is free to rotate n its bearing in the bracket and at its upperend indie 3l has fixed thereto an angularly bent arm 34 while spindle 32has a similar arm 35. At the lower end of spindle 3| there is a secondarml generally designated by numeral 33, that arm being per.

manently held to move with the spindle and also with the arm 34. Aspringl 31 connects at the outer end of arm 36 and also to a hook 33,Figs.

1 and 2. At the other end of the arm 33 there is adjustably `attached atriangular shaped cam or follower 39. t

At the opposite side of the machine there are similar parts includingarm 43, spring 4I, hook 42 and follower 43. Normally the spring 3l whichhas considerable tension moves arms 36 and 34 in such a manner that thelever 34-pushing on a pin 44 projecting from the movable cam 25, willlhold thatcam inwardly. At such'tlmes as the :follower 39 ridesupon-needle butts 45, `the arm 36, also arm 34, will be moved againstthe tension of spring 31 so that cam 25 will not be held in itsinnermost or active position. In fact, it will trolled bysultablypatterned cams.

During operationvof the machinea stocking to be moved. out by the leafspring 46. A

At the rear of the machinethe follower 43 will perform the same,function and cam 28 will be controlled in the'same manner. Incounterclockwise rotation or strokes of knitting the cam 2,876,050 g 23governs; in clockwise strokes cam 25 .and its attendant mechanismcontrols.

The followers 39 and 43 are at such a level that they contact and rideupon needle butts in that group of needles raised to instep level. Inother words, the followers ride upon the butts of the long butt group ofneedles and upon short butts of those needles picked up to that samelevel during knitting the heel or toe. The timing of the mechanism issuch that just as follower 43, for example, falls from the last butt inthe instep group, the cam 26 will move in and will push sinkers inwardlyto project the nibs of those sinkers between the yarns. 'In actualpractice that occurs so that in reciprocatory work, about the fourthsinker after the leading short butt needle will have its nib projectedbetween the yarns. Then all following sinker nibs `will have the pileyarn drawn over them as illustrated in Fig. 7. When the cam 26 ispushing sinkers inwardly, cam 25 may or may not be in its activeposition depending on whether the follower 33 is` riding on any of theneedle butts.l

In circular work as during knitting the highsplice' or double sole, cam23 is maintained in position and, of course, there are no needle buttsat a level toA contact either of the followers 39 or 43. `The yarnfinger 9 feeding a pile yarn at that time is moved'to and from feedingposition once each course. That is done by mechanism well known to thoseskilled in the art. Cam 25 remains in'position during this rotary work.It assists in holding the work down on the needles.

During knitting in the stocking leg or at any other part where there isno pile yarn being knitted, the yarns which are fed arenever at apositionfto be drawn over sinker nibs. They will always be taken in thethroats of sinkers and for this reason, cam 26 may be in position andsinkers move in at an early point in the cycle without interference.However, when a yarn change is made, the cam 26 must be withdrawn andthe change madeat a time ,when sinkers are not advanced so that thenewly inserted yarn would follow over sinker nibs. In reverse strokesals in clockwise reciprocations inthe heel or toe cam 25 as governed byfollower 39 acts in the same way as the opposite set of parts functionswhen knitting in the other direction.

When it is desired to withdraw follower 43 and cam 23 from activeposition, mechanism not specifically illustratedis controlled by patternmeans on the machine. This mechanism in cludes a bell crank leverengageable with the` arm Sii and other linkage extending down tobe con-.

be knitted may start with a transferred rib 'top or with' anyfother typetop or edge and the leg of the stockingwill be knitted as abovedescribed A or in any convenient manner. Preferably, at the highsplice,the pile yarn fed by lever 3 will be thrown into action and sinkers willthen be con trolied so that all those sinkers at thesole feed of thestocking will be projected inwardly to have their nibs inserted beneaththe pile yarn but l rather than the needle butts.

the yarn lever Il is lowered to feeding position. Follower 43 vwill rideon the long butts and as that follower drops from the last long butt,cam

26 will be projected inwardly moving all sinkers into the position shownin Figs. 3 and 'I as those l sinkers pass the point of the cam. Inactual practice the fourth sinker in that .'group over which the heelneedles knit will be the first which Vmay safely have its nib projectedbetween the yarns. In opposite' strokes the .same applies since follower39 allows cam 25 tocontrol the sinkers similarly. l

After the start of the heel picks 8 come into action and then at eachstroke, one short butt needle will be moved up to the instep level. uThe follower 43 will then ride upon all the longbutts and in addition,as many short butts as have been moved upwardly to the instep level.That means that progressively the number of short ybutt needles firstbecomes smaller and correspOndingIy, the rstsinker toA be moved in foreach direction of knitting will .be the fourth sinker following the rstneedle knitting in the short butt group. Of course, variations may makeit desirable t0 project. the third; or fifthscribed. At each stroke one,short butt needle will -be moved upwardlyI but sincethe widening pickscome into play, they move down two such needles so that the effectivegroup increases .by

one needle at each stroke. Naturally, the instepA group of needlesdecreases correspondingly.

vwhich is frlctioned to move with the head by means of the frictioningsprings 88 would move to the same extent unless otherwise' restricted.As shown in Fig. 9, a plurality of angular clips i1 engage within agroove 68 in the sinker head andl prevent vertical movement of the ring.

There is a latch 69 at one end of a lever 10 pivoted at 1l,` and thislatch 'and lever are normally pressed by means of a spring (not shown)so that the latch engages a detent 12. A second latch 13 is identicalwith the latch 69 only it is adapted to work in the reverse direction.The second latch is a part of a lever 14 also pivoted at 1| andcorrespondingly pressed by a spring to engage a second detent 15 whenthe ring 5p moves in a direction so that those two elements are engaged.

` The arm 10 and the corresponding arm 14 have projections 16 and 11,respectively, which engage -on'the upper edgeof the picks 53 and 52,respectively. Whenever a pick is raised `as when it picks up a needle,it will swing its corresponding llever so that the latch 69 or 13, asthe case may After That means that followers 39 and 43 fall from theneedlebutts upon 'which they ride one needle earlier than for theprevious course, and thus, as

the widening progresses the first sinker nib to be projected inwardlywill follow y the number of vneedles -as it did in the narrowingoperation.

Now referring to Figs. 8-l3, a modification will be described in whichthe controlling movement for graduating the lsinkers is taken from thepicks In Figs. 8 and 9 a cam plate 41 has a cam block 48 on which areoperatively positioned stitch cams 49 and 5l3 and a center guard cam 5I;In this form of the'inbe, will be disengaged from the corresponding detent.

Referring to Fig. ll, the pick 53 has been swung so that its buttAengagingend has lifted a needle from a'lower pathway 18 to a higherpathway 18.

It has also been engaged with the extension 16,

swung the'lever about pivot 1| so that the latch 69 has disengaged itsdetent`12.

In operation, this' modied form of the invention operates in the samegeneral manner 'as that first described. On counter-clockwise strokes.of knitting the frontpick 52 will be raised by the leading short buttneedle and the latch 13 disengaged with detent 15, releasing thefrictioned ring 5U so that it can move with the cylinder and sinker headto the position shown in Fig. 10. In that position the cam 63 will pushthe movable sinker cam 59 inwardly and the sinkers will then have theirnibs 5 projected inwardly to have the pile yarn thrown over them.

As in the first instance, about the fourth sinker following the leadingshort butt needle will be vention feeding may be by means similar tothat previously described and the needles and sinkers are of similar oridentical construction. The

narrowing picks52 and 53 are of usual construction and it is by means ofthese picks thatthe graduating of sinkers is obtained. The outline fthe. cylinder is shown in dot and dash lines.

In Fig. l0 a sinkercam cap 54 has sinker cams which are the same as aresimilarly shownv in Fig.

3. There is a center sinker cam 55, a i'ront sinker cam 56 andcorrespondingrear sinker cam 51. There are also the'movable cams- 58 and5g which correspond to cams 25 and 28.

For maintaining one or the other of these movable cams in a position toproject sinkers .inwardly so that their nibs' are engaged between yarns,a ring 6U is carried by and is frictionally moved by the sinker headfil.V This ring carries a can-iholder 62 and a cam 53, the latter beingadapted to engage either one of the pins .64 or 55 as the case may be,and thereby push the movable cam inwardly against the tension of one ofknitting.

sinkers will have pile yarn measured over their nibs. The ring 5B isstopped in proper position by contact of an adjustable stop screw 8Uengaging with post ti. The stop screw 8B is threaded into a lug 82attached to the ring.. At

a properly spaced distance from the lug 82 a second lug with a similarstop screw is attached to function lin the opposite direction. The cap54 rswings to and fro as is the usuall practice, but 'its movement isnot nearly so great as the movement of the ring til. Hereafter whensubstantially the fourth sinker from the -first or leadingA needle totake the yarns is mentioned, it is to'be understood that the actualsinker may vary one or two either way but the first that can safely beprojected so its nib will enter between the yarns is meant.

-In clockwise strokes the leading` short butt `needle will be lifted bypick 53 unlatching the detent i2 and thereby allowing the ring to movetoits opposite position as intendedin dot and dash lines, Fig. l0. 'Inthat position'the n-ibs of sinkers will be projected between the yarnsas previously described relatively to counterclockwise In Fig. 14 thereis illustrated a stocking having a top 83, leg 84 and a foot includingthe instep 85, sole, heel Sii, toe 88 and a highsplice 88.

,In this particular stocking the heel, soleand toe 4 t n have pile loopsprojecting to the'inside oi the' fabric. The highsplice 89y mightsimilarly be `asvaoso formed with pile loops at that area i: so desired.

The invention has been described by illustrating and specificallydescribing two embodiments` of the same, but it is to be understoodthat. varia- 2. sinker controlling means'for circular, in-

dependent needle knitting machines including in combination sinker camsmovable to and'from aposition in which said cams will project sinkersinwardly and means for controlling the timed interval at which andduringwhich said sinker tions may be resorted to so long as control taken'from a varying number of needle buttsin accordance with narrowing andwidening; the projection of the leading sinkers will always bear thesame relationship to the first needle knitting in that particularstroke. Likewise, in' the second embodiment, the picks are actuated bythe leading needle of a varying'group of needles and the. samerelationship will still apply.

The invention is not to be limited otherthan by the scope of theappended claims.

l. A circular, independent needle knitting'rna chine having needles andsinkers to`be rotated at times, and at other times, reciprocated, meansfor feeding yarns including a mouthpiece, a yarn feeding lever to feed abody yarn from a position centrally of said mouthpiece, a second leveradjacent one side of the mouthpiece for feeding a pile yarn duringrotary work and a third lever for feeding a pile yarn duringreciprocatoryknitting,'said last mentioned lever feeding its yarn sothat it will swing during reciprocatory work to be fed first through onecorner of the mouthpiecevand then through the other, the construction ofsaid body yarn feeding lever and the third lever being such that thepile yarn can cross over and feed above the body yarn feeding leverwithout interference.

cams shall be thus moved inwardly, vsaid means being operable bynarrowing picks. f

3. In a circular, independent needle, knitting machine having needles,sinkersv and narrowing picks, the combination of means to feed at leasttwo yarns to said needles and sinkers so that one of said yarnswill'feed as al body yarn and another as a pile 'yarn in both rotary andreciprocatory work, means controlled by the narrowing picks forprojecting sinkers inwardly so ythat their nibs will engage above thebody .yarn but below the pile yarn.

4. In a circular, independent needle, knitting machine having needles,sinkers and narrowing picks, the combination of means to feed at leasttwo yarns to said needles and sinkers in such a manner that one of saidyarns will feed as a body yarn and another as a, pile yarn in bothrotary and reciprocatory work, means for projecting sinkers inwardly sothat their nibs will engage above the body yarn but below the pile yarnand means for controlling said projecting means which consists of anarrowing pick'and needle functioning cooperatively so that the viirstsinker to be projected will-be a predetermined sinker followinglftheleading needle which takes the yarns.

j rotation in the opposite direction and means op- 5. rIn a circular,independent needle, knitting machine, sinker cam operating means whichincludes means rotatable with the cylinder in either direction andoperatively associated with said sinker cams, means for arresting saidrotation in one direction, lockingmeans for preventing said erated by anarrowing' pick for releasing said rotatable means from said locking'means.

. ISAAC H. C. GREEN.

